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By Matt Audilet
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Houston Rockets, led by veteran NBA superstar Kevin Durant, are heading into a first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Durant, 37, is playing in his 18th NBA season. And as a result of his longevity and history of postseason success, the 16-time NBA All-Star is on the verge of making playoff history.
Durant is 15 points away from becoming the seventh player in NBA history to reach 5,000 playoff points. If he records 15 points in the Rockets' Game 1 matchup against the Lakers on Saturday night, he'll join LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan as the only players in league history to accomplish that feat.
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"Kevin Durant needs 15 points to become the seventh player in NBA history to reach 5,000 playoff points," the NBA wrote in a post on Friday. "The Rockets visit the Lakers in Game 1 on Saturday at 8:30 PM ET on ABC."
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Durant averaged 26 points per game through 78 appearances for the Rockets in 2025-26, shooting 52% from the field and 41.3% from behind the 3-point arc. The four-time NBA scoring champion hasn't averaged less than 25 points per game since his rookie season with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007-08.
The Rockets' first-round series will see Durant matchup against LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leader in playoff points (8,289).
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"It’s always great playing against great players. You feel their presence on the floor even if you’re not matched up with them. But it's just like all basketball players know ... it’s much more than just one player," Durant said of playing against James on Wednesday.
"It’s much more than two players, three players. You need a whole group of guys to go out there and win basketball games, especially at this level and especially four times against a team like that."
Saturday's Rockets-Lakers matchup will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET from Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena.
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